A to Zealand

Well we finally got a dump… a snow dump that is (hehe). That’s right… it finally snowed A LOT! YAY!! I arrived in Queenstown a couple of weeks ago. It was perfect timing because Winterfest just started. There were all sorts of things going on like dodgeball tournaments, drag queen drag races, and tons of bands playing. There was even a Japanese James Brown band which was totally awesome. I want them to play at my wedding.

Queenstown is by far my most favorite place in New Zealand. The scenery is breathtaking. It’s just a cute little snow town with tons of activities always going on. I even did a bungee jump. I can’t even begin to describe the adrenalin rush. It’s 134 meters high with about eight seconds of free fall. I honestly didn’t think I would be as scared as I was, but it’s so incredibly intimidating. Not to mention I was the last one to go, so I had to wait for about 15 people to go in front of me. I’m not sure I even remember the first few seconds, but it was truly amazing. I want to go again!

Good news. I officially started my job! I’m working for NZSki as the Coronet Peak Administrative Assistant on the mountain. I get tons of perks like a free ski pass for both Coronet Peak and The Remarkables which runs upward of about $1,400. Lucky me! I work in the office with all of the ski area managers and other admins who are all really nice. So far so good. Some of my job duties include updating the Web site and snow phones, finding missing people, and making PA announcements which I struggle with. The entire mountain hears my voice and I always stumble on my words. I accidentally even said “y’all” when I radioed patrol the other day. I’ll never hear the end of that. It’s a chaotic job, but goes by super fast every day. You wouldn’t believe how many missing people there are! As long as the snow keeps up, I should have a job for the rest of the snow season. I was supposed to go skiing today on my day off, but due to high winds, they closed all the mountains.

I’m staying at a hostel right now which is definitely the nicest one yet. It’s only a year old and centrally located. I met a good group of friends who are also staying here most of whom are British. I love to hear them talk. Do you fancy this? Do you want to have a sit down? Do you need to throw away your rubbish? They get a kick out of me saying “y’all”, which I guess I never realized how much I use the word. As much as I enjoy hostel life, I finally found a place to live! It’s a brand new, 4 bedroom house about 5 minutes from town. I’m sharing a room with my friend Hayley. There are 2 people to a room, so I will have several roommates. We have a great view of the mountains and Lake Wakatipu. I’m pretty pumped!

Thanks for all of the recent e-mails! Keep them coming! I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. Unfortunately, I didn’t do too much for the holiday because we were all too tired, but I celebrated in spirit! Love and miss everyone. :)